fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2193 ]

[ SECRET POST #2193 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2193 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

[GunnerKrigg Court]

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02.

[The Avengers]

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03.

[French & Saunders]

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04.

[X-Men/Marvel Universe]

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05.

[Tron: Uprising]

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06.

[Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman]

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07.

[How I Met Your Mother]

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08.

[The X-Files/Fox Mulder]

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09.

[Homestuck]

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10.

[True Grit]

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11.

[Saya no Uta]

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12.

[The Silmarillion]

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13.

[Homestuck]

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14.

[Supernatural]

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 015 secrets from Secret Submission Post #313.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Today my computer was giving off a burning smell. I turned it off and put it back on but it would not turn on. I tried for about twenty minutes when suddenly there was a POP!!!!! SPARK!!! And the power in the room went out. Checked the fuse, fixed that but now my computer is dead.

How bad do you think it is? Does anyone have a clue as to how much do think it will cost to fix?

The worse thing is, thanks to Christmas spending, I don't have two pennies to rub together. So, repair work is out of the question until next month. This is not the best way to start off the new year.

In the absence of further information -- how much dust was in the thing, how old is the PC, the make/model, what kind of PSU it had -- I'm going to say it's probably new PC time.

I mean let's be real -- your PC took out the power to the whole room. That's a lot of juice and PCs aren't really designed to handle that. I wouldn't even expect to salvage your HD.

It's a 2007. I know that's old but it's a good computer with a ton of programs and photos that I love to use. I am probably going to repair the computer just to be able to get access to them again.

Don't expect too much out of your HD, for reasons I stated before. If I had to guess, it may be something to do with your power supply unit (the part you plug in) and when a PSU goes it has a tendency to take the rest of the computer with it.

Just as a caveat, it's not totally lost. My PSU died rather dramatically once, but the computer itself was salvagable - just had to replace the PSU.

So, OP, it's not TOTALLY hopeless, just... be aware that there is a chance that it might be dead.

I gotta be honest mekkio. Based on what you already did... you have no idea how to fix a fucking computer. Take this to somebody else.

Oh, trust me. I am not going to do this on my own. I just wanted to know if I should take the tower out back to bury it or if I have a chance to salvage it.

From the info you've provided, I'm not feeling hopeful I have to say. Sorry.

That said, this comment just made me wonder how you're posting. Sorry for being unfeeling.

Two computers in the house. One is dead at the moment and the other is not. However, the one I am on at the moment is stripped down with almost none of the bells and whistles of my old computer. (No art programs, mainly.)

If i were you, if you can, i'd pull the hd in the 'dead' computer and put it in the working one and see if you can access any of the information on there. I mean - any program you bought you can install again, it's just the saved stuff like art/fic/files that's important, right?

And, ah ha ha, really - burning smell? Either your computer is filthy inside or it's toast. So sorry.

I hope it's not toast.

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

(Anonymous) - 2013-01-04 04:09 (UTC) - Expand

It just occurred to me -- do you have pets that shed a lot? And do you air out your PC often?

No pets. But I don't air it out. I am not even sure how to do that.

Most desktop computers these days have a panel you pop off. Once that's done, you get a can of pressurized air and blow the dust out of your PC. They usually come with a little red straw so you can direct the flow into like your fans or video card or get into tight spaces.

*butting in*

Also, a very soft brush that doesn't shed its hair can also be helpful. A piece of cloth that doesn't leave lint is also good for cleaning some aged dust that clings to everything and anything and *won't* take the hint when you aim the pressurised air at it.

It's good to sometimes take your PC apart and take your time in cleaning it, provided you can remember where everything went/how it all fits together, and are super careful with not upsetting anything fragile. Also, in my experience, PC towers tend to have all three panels detachable (sides and top); it's easier to remove them all to access every area and make sure dirt doesn't accumulate on the corners opposite of where you're cleaning :)

Cleaning the fan is of *vital* importance, if you don't want your computer to overheat which has been the source of lots of serious trouble with my PC. Mine had a period in which it'd turn off and restart at random; there was so much lint in the fan that I could've made a little wig out of it. Gross stuff; picked it out with tweezers and carefully aimed pressurised air.

I've never dealt with burning smells, though. Hot metal smell, yes, but downright burning sounds like something is effectively burnt. Sorry :( Best of luck recovering your stuff; I hope your HD made it.

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

dethtoll - 2013-01-04 06:38 (UTC) - Expand

it's either the motherboard (costs about ~$50-80) or the power supply (about ~$100)

no computer is ever 'dead' just by one thing blowing, you can always just replace the one damaged part and salvage all the others

don't fret, a reputable repairer will take care of it (reputable as in, someone else may tell you the whole thing is borked just so you can buy another one)

It's good to know that it can be saved. (I'd rather have a hardware problem then a software problem.) It's just all about saving up money to get it repaired.

There is nothing about a software problem that would cause burning smells and blown power, jsyk.

Best case scenario: your motherboard is fried but some parts (like the hard drive) are salvageable.

Worst case scenario: you're SO out of luck =/

Let's say your hard drive is fine. You should be able to get your photos back but you might have to re-install your arts programs if the files need special softwares to open. There's a chance you can run the other computer with the sparkly hard drive but I don't advise it. The chance of things getting messed up with because of missing hardware drivers is not pleasant.

If you're going to take the sparkly drive out of the case yourself, make sure all power is off, power cords unplugged, and any static electricity is discharged before handling any circuit boards or hard drives.

Best of luck to you!

We're talking about desktop PCs right? Chapter 7 of "Building a PC For Dummies" has a good overview of what to expect when working with hard drives. Google preview is a wonderful thing. (http://books.google.ca/books?id=6dz1oA7SKg4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false) The relevant pages are 112-114, 125-128. (If the drive from the dead computer is an EIDE drive, make sure the jumper on the back is set to multiple drives, slave.)

Also, never ever ever set the vacuum cleaner on your computer. Vacuums are great at collecting static electricity and static electricity are the sworn enemy of all sensitive electronics.

From what you're said, I'm sorry but I believe the magic smoke has escaped.

like others said, this depends on how your computer is put together

I once had something similar happen (it didn't take out the power in the entire room, but it did everything else), and it turned out that my motherbroad was fried

the problem was that the motherboard had everything (video card, sound card, etc.) right in it instead of being a separate deal, so it took everything but the hard-drive with it

If you're lucky, it could just be a malfunctioning fan/dust.

The problem is that with the POP!SPARK more damage might have been done. You have a decent chance of salvaging your hard drive, but it might cost you.

I suggest finding a reputable repair shop that will give you an estimate of the cast before they even start working on it.

Burnt smell, pop, crack, sudden power outage? Burnt power supply is usually the cause.

A computer that has its power supply busted via heavy usage / old age / insufficient power is usually still redeemable, but one that's busted because of lightning / power overload has slim chance to survive. In any case, change the power supply first then check if everything's still all right.

The type of power supply I recommend is something that supports high wattage (500W is good for general uses) and have net-like or beehive-like air vents (many power supplies have huge air vents that attract insects and lizards - I've seen many busted power supplies with dead lizards in them).

About the price though? Sorry, I don't really know. It depends on the country I guess. I'm from Malaysia, and the price of power supplies here is only about USD 20 the cheapest.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #2193 ]

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Wanna do-it-yourself? Read this!

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?

Re: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "It's dead, Jim" how bad is my computer?